In 1980, The Vapors released New Clear Days, an album full of one power-pop/new wave nugget after another. "Turning Japanese" was the big hit, but I always wondered why nothing else happened for these guys.
Seems it all comes down to mismanagement. The band's manager was John Weller, father of Paul Weller, and he could only effectively manage one group at a time.
This song, "Waiting for the Weekend," should have been huge. The 7 inch single - the version in the video - is over-produced (horns?!), but I couldn't find the album version on YouTube.
UPDATE! Here's the original. The single doesn't do the song justice.
6 comments:
They also fucked up the riff in the intro for the single. Why?
Much better song than most that did make it.
Yeah, I was surprised at how good this album was when I finally came across it. I picked up a copy on vinyl a couple of years ago, but I tell everybody I bought back in 1980 when it came out. They'll never know the difference.
If I remember correctly, "Turning Japanese" was never really a hit until it aired on MTV.
Yeah I think you're right, Joe.
Incidentally, the album title, New Clear Days, is a pun on "nuclear," and one of the clouds on the cover is of the mushroom variety. (This was released during the eighties, after all ...)
I was trying to remember the timing of the MTV tidal wave. I think '80 was early, maybe just before it really hit?
New Clear Days was released in June, 1980 and MTV launched in August 1981, so there was a bit of a lag.
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